Telephone attached pad holder



Jan. 24, 1956 c ZELLER TELEPHONE ATTACHED PAD HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 12, 1954 ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 c. E. ZELLER TELEPHONE ATTACHED PAD HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 12, 1954 ATTORNEY The present invention relates to a holder and more particularly to the holder for a writing pad with means on the holder for attachment to a telephone.

Heretofore writing pads of various sorts have been used for recording brief messages such as calls by telephone, orders for groceries and the like. The usual small type of writing pad has been unsatisfactory especially when a person is using a telephone because the small pad slides around when an attempt is made to write with one hand while the other hand is holding the mouthpiece and receiver. Further, the loose pads frequently become mislaid and therefore are not available at the time of need.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pad holder for attachment to a telephone without altering the construction of the telephone and without requiring tools.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder for a writing pad so that the writing pad may be afiixed to a fixed supporting edge such as the edge of a table, or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a writing pad holder which will be durable and useful while being inexpensive to manufacture so that merchants or other advertisers may distribute the pad holder to their customers.

Other and filrther objects will be apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective with parts broken away of one form of pad holder with a pad thereon and attached to a telephone base;

Fig. 2, a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l with the telephone base shown in phantom;

Fig. 3, a plan view of the pad holder with the pad outline indicated in phantom lines;

Fig. 4, a detail of the clip for securing the pad in position with the advertising panel shown in phantom;

Fig. 5, a perspective of another form of pad holder;

Fig. 6, a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7, a longitudinal section taken on the line 7-7 of the modification shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8, a perspective of a further modification of a portion of a pad holder.

Briefly, the present invention includes a pad holder having an elongated body of approximately the length of a writing pad to be mounted thereon; a spring clip is fixed to one end of the body with the mouth of the spring clip opening toward the body for receiving the end of a writing pad, 2. second spring clip is located at the other end of the body and has its mouth opening outwardly from the body in certain modifications so that the second clip may be se cured to a supporting edge such as the edge of a lifting handle of a conventional desk telephone base. Such lifting handle is located immediately below the cradle for receiving the usual combination mouthpiece and receiver hand set. The second spring clip is preferably provided with a handle on the lower portion thereof for engagement with another portion of the telephone base to maintain the pad holder body in a fixed position so that the pad may be written upon while it is supported on the telephone base.

nite States Patent Optionally, an advertising panel may be mounted on the pad holder for receiving a permanent or replaceable card for conveying suitable information to the telephone user.

Upon more detailed reference to the drawings, it will be apparent that a conventional telephone base 10 provided with a lifting handle 11 and the conventional hand set receiving cradle 12 supports a pad holder body 13 made of sheet metal or other suitable material. A C-shaped spring 14 provided with slots 15 and 16 is mounted with the slot 15 receiving the upper end 17 of the elongated pad holder body 13 and a T-shaped jaw 18 has its stem portion 19 extending through slot 16 of the 0 spring. The stem portion or conventional handle 19 of the jaw has a card holder 20 aiiixed thereto as by a rivet or other fastening means. The card holder 20 is preferably provided with inturned flanges 21, 21 at the top and bottom edges forming a channel for the receiving of an advertising card or the like (not shown).

Aflixed to the other end 22 of the pad holder body is an elongated U-shaped spring having one leg 23 fixed to' the said other end 22 by spot welding 23A or the like and a bight portion 24 extends from the leg 23 to another leg 25, the legs 23 and 25 being urged together by the resiliency of the spring in a conventional manner. Secured to the leg 25 is wire handle 26 having outwardly projecting ends 26A pivoted into the head portion 28 of the spring.

The legs 23 and 25 of the U-shaped clamp are adapted to embrace the handle 11 inwardly of the downwardly extending rib 27 thereof and the rounded portion 28 of the leg 25 is hooked under the rib 27 thereby securing the pad holder in position while an ofiset portion 268 of the handle 26 engages a fixed abutment portion on the telephone base thereby providing the equivalent of a three point support for the pad holder and fixing the position of the pad holder with relation to the telephone.

A conventional writing pad 29 with the usual cardboard backing has its upper end secured by the clamping jaw 18 against the body portion 13 of the pad holder whereby the pad is retained in position. The angle formed between the body portion 13 and the lower end 22 is selected so that the writing pad will be supported at the proper angle for writing and reading and will be readily available for use at all times by any person even without instruction on the advantages of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive, the pad holder therein includes a channel-shaped body portion 30 to the upper end of which is secured an advertising panel 31. The channel telescopically receives a slotted tongue 32 for permitting the length of the pad holder to be adjusted as desired for accommodating various sizes of writing pads. Fixed to the lower end of the tongue 32 is a resilient U-shaped clamp having one web 33 thereof secured to the tongue 32 by spot welding or the like. A pair of spaced bight portions 34 and 35 provide an opening 36 therebetween for optionally receiving the lower end of a writing pad 37. The bight portions 34 and 35 connect the web portions 33 and 38 of the U-shaped clamp for maintaining the free ends of the sheets of the pad together and also permit the attachment of loose sheets as desired. The web 38 of the U-shaped clamp may be provided with an offset portion 38A to serve as a handle for opening the resilient U-shaped clamp to permit the insertion of the writing pad. The upper end of the pad 37 is provided with one or more perforations 39 through which bolts 40 pass, the channel-shaped body being provided with registering apertures 39A for receiving the bolts 40 while a plate 41 having registering apertures may be positioned on the top surface of the pad 37 so that the heads of the bolts 40 may react against such plate 41 and be drawn downwardly by the knurled nuts 42 thereby maintaining the upper end of the pad in fixed position.

As stated above, the tongue 32 is telescopically received 2,781,764 g V, F

in the channel body 30, the channel body being provided with a stepped slot 43 which slidably receives an internally threaded element 45 having a rectangular plate portion 44 which is slidably received in the stepped slot.

43 and the downwardly extending portion 45 which partially projects into a slot 46 of the tongue 32. A bolt 47 having a fiat knurled head engaging with the tongue 32 serves to draw the tongue 32 and the channel member 30 into fixed position thereby locking the parts for a particular size of pad.

It will be evident that a pad holder may be used for mounting a writing pad so that the lower or free ends of the pad are held in clamped relation preventing displacement by the wind. Also, the portion 38 of the U-shaped clamp may be used for clamping loose papers, if desired.

The form of the invention shown in Figs. 5 to 7 may be used as an attachment on a telephone in a manner similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4. Preferably, the tongue 32 of the holder with the U-shaped clamp thereon, as shown in Fig. 5, is turned over so that the web portion 33 of the U-shaped clamp may grip the top surface of the handle portion 11 of the telephone base and the ofiset portion 38A or the point of juncture of the bight portions 34 and 35 between the web portions 33 and 38 of the U-shaped clamp may engage the ledge below the handle 11 of the telephone base thereby maintaining the pad holder in position.

Alternatively, the entire pad holder may be inverted for use on a telephone, the pad 37 being then mounted on the opposite side of the pad holder from that shown in Fig. 7 and the bolts 40 being usable for supporting the pad in either condition.

The lowermost extremity 48 of the tongue 32 may be bent at a suitable angle similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 where it is desired to have the pad holder arranged in upwardly extending position on the telephone base. The bolt 47 and the nut including portions 44 and 45 permit extensive adjustment of the pad holder for accommodating pads of varying length, the conventional cardboard backing of such pads serving to additionally support the pads in writing condition and if desired, the pads may overlap the advertising panel 31 for additional support where necessary.

Referring to Fig. 8, a modified form of tongue 49 may be substituted for the tongue 32 for telescopic reception in the channel member 30. The U-shaped clamp thereof includes portion 50 fixed to the tongue 49 by suitable means such as Welding or the like and spaced bight portions 51 and 52 resiliently connect the other leg 53 of the U-shaped clamp to the leg 50 and the offset portion 54 serving as a handle for opening the clamp. The U-shaped clamp shown in Fig.8 is adaptable to receive the lower end of the pad 37 in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 7 and optionally may be used to secure the pad holder to the edge of a table when such tongue 49 is inverted in the manner described above.

The type of spring clip shown at the upper end of the pad holder body 13 may be of a type similar to that shown in Fig. 8 so that the body portion 13 serves as one portion of the spring clip and spring elements corresponding to bight portions 51 and 52 shown in Fig. 8 support a leg portion 53 which presses against the pad to retain the pad on the pad holder body. For operating the movable leg 53, a card holder such as that shown at 20 in Fig. 2 may be provided and the leg 53 may be the body portion of the card holder if desired. A wire handle similar to the wire handle 26 shown in Fig. 2 may be employed in lieu of or in addition to the card holder.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed is:

A writing pad holder for attachment to a telephone base having a recess opening rearwardly and located below the upper surface of the base and forming a handle between the recess and the upper surface below the hand setreceiving cradle, said handle underlying such cradle and projecting rearwardly and having a rib projecting down wardly at its rear edge, said pad holder including a body upon which a writing pad may be mounted, means to removably secure a writing pad to the pad holder body, a U- shaped clamp having the legs thereof converging from the bight portion of the clamp toward the free ends thereof, one of said legs being fixedly secured to the end of said pad holder body and projecting at an obtuse angle therefrom, said one leg being adapted to engage an appreciable area over the upper surface of said handle of said telephone base, the free end of the other leg of said U-shaped clamp being resiliently urged toward said one leg for engagement against the lower surface of the handle and forwardly of the rib at the rear portion of said telephone base handle, said other leg of said U-shaped clamp having a' portion fixed thereon for engaging the edge of the lower surface of said recess whereby the pad holder will be retained by the lever action between said pad holder body I and said other leg of said clamp and by the resiliency of the clamp.

References Cited in the file of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

